This webpage is built on two documents:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Millstein RL, Wetterhall SF, et al). Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health. MMWR 1999; (48) RR-11. (avaliable here)

This process is called the CDC Framework on this webpage.  The CDC Framework has six steps and can be used to guide all sorts of assessments (example 1)

• The advantages of the CDC Framework are that it is comprehensive and there are many, many examples, tools and materials available to help evaluators at each step.

For a step-by-step introduction to the CDC Framework, click here.

Friedman, Mark Trying Hard is Not Good Enough Trafford Publishing, Victoria BC, 2005 (available here).

This strategy is called Results Accountability on this webpage.  Results Accountability separates progress toward big picture objectives (such as reducing the number of adults admitted to a hospital for flu treatment) from progress made by a specific program (such as the number of adults immunized), and suggests using three simple, critical questions to guide evaluation efforts. (example 2)

• The advantage of the Results Accountability strategy is that it is simple; there are also some examples and tools to help conduct evaluations using this method.

For a step-by-step introduction to Results Accountability, click here.

Both methods put program evaluation in a larger context of program planning and development.  There are many other strategies for conducting program evaluation.  The Resources page has links to manuals for some of these alternatives.